No More Lonely Days: Second Edition
by FireFox9765
Summary: Eric is a lonely boy with a depressing life. But, what will happen when an insane and life-changing event happens to him? Will he survive and find his true self? Please Read, Enjoy, and Review! Rated T for blood, death, and language. Rating might change. Sorry for the crappy summary. Post-SF: Command. WARNING: Contains some spoilers.
1. Prologue

**No More Lonely Days, Second Edition**

**By FireFox9765**

**PROLOGUE**

It was early. Probably it was seven or eight o'clock in the morning. The light of the morning sun came in through my window, bathing the wall in a beautiful orange-like color while the big black silhouettes of the trees and the light poles outside projected themselves on it. I yawned and lazily scratched the back of my head. For some weird reason, I couldn't remember any of the events that had happened the previous day. It almost felt as if my memory had been wiped clean. I decided to ignore that feeling as I pulled the bed sheets aside so that I could start my day. However, something unusual caught my attention. There, on my bedside table, lay a metallic silver box. I reached for it anxiously, wondering what was in the box but the most important thing I wanted to find out was how that thing had got there. When I finally got my hands on it, I carried it and set it on the desk I used to do my homework. Even though it looked heavy, it felt just as if I were carrying a pillow. I stood in front of the brown desk observing the lid of the box. It didn't have any kind of lock so I carefully lifted the lid. When the box was finally open I grabbed a chair that was in one of my room's corners and sat on it right in front of the desk so that I could take a look at the stuff inside the box in a more comfortable position.

Then I began pulling things out of the shiny box. I found common-looking stuff such as dark-colored clothes, a red necktie, a set of keys, a weird- looking handgun, and a letter. I looked at the little envelope for a minute or two before ripping it open with my shaky hands. I read the name of the person who had written it and suddenly, I remembered…

You must be asking yourselves who I am. My name is Eric Gallow Martínez and this is my story. I live in the town of Fairport. Well, I think it is more of a mix between a city and a town. It has a urban area with tall skyscrapers and colorful neon lights, but it also has peaceful rural areas where fancy houses are built here and there. I'm 19 years old and I'm about to finish high school. I know that someone with that age should already be in college but unfortunately some health issues held me back a few years when I was a child. I've never been involved in a romantic relationship with a girl although I've hung out with a couple of female friends. When I'm at school I usually spend my lunch breaks with my friends. Their names are Nick and Laura. We've known each other for a few years now. We're always happy when we're together.

This might seem like a good life but everything, including my life, has a dark and depressing side. You see, I'm always picked on at school. I am forced to endure the daily mocking and insulting from people who don't know me, especially from Calvin Garrett and his gang. You can bet your ass that's their favorite hobby. The saddest part is that I live in a house that is three stories high, on my own. You see, my parents and my 24 year old brother left me one day at home and they never came back. Even though I'm not 21 yet, I've been able to handle myself and the money that is sent to me every month.

I must admit that the last few months have been pretty tough and unforgiving but still, the change I went through on a rainy afternoon improved me both on the inside and the outside. I can assure you that what I lived is something that you will only get to see in a movie or in your craziest dreams. I don't care if that change threatened my life. I'm just thankful it helped me discover what I'm capable of and what my purpose in this universe is.

I am Eric Gallow Martinez and this, is my adventure.

* * *

**Hi, FireFox9765 here. I had already submitted a story with the same name but it was pretty bad so I decided to completely rewrite it . I hope you guys will enjoy the rest. Don't forget to leave your review! See ya!**


	2. High School Madness

**Hi everyone. I'm back with another chapter. Honestly I didn't expect all the reviews you left. I would like to thank you all for your kind words and for adding this fanfic to your alerts.**

**To Comrade: Eh, I'll try to see what can I do to make this interesting for you.**

**To TroyGroomes: I might consider that. Thanks for reviewing.**

** Now, on to the story Enjoy! (I apologize for any grammar mistakes and/or repetitive writing. I'm not a native English speaker.)**

* * *

**Chapter 1: High School Madness**

Just another day in Eric's life. Eric woke up as soon as he heard his phone ring exactly at 6:30 in the morning although it took him 5 extra minutes to wake up since he had stayed up late the day before because of the homework he had got from his History teacher. He muttered a curse and picked up the phone to turn off the alarm, which he didn't like very much because of the ear-piercing sound it produced. Then he got up and took a quick shower. After that, the boy picked a black leather jacket, a grey t-shirt, his favorite pair of black denim pants and a pair of white Adidas sneakers from his closet before putting them on. This only took him 15 minutes. Once he got dressed, he went to the bathroom to comb his hair and went downstairs to the kitchen to make his breakfast. It only consisted of a sandwich and a glass orange juice. Eric quickly ate everything up and went back to the bathroom so that he could brush his teeth before leaving for school. A couple of minutes later, Eric went outside holding his school bag with his right hand and locked the door. Wondering what would happen in the next hours, Eric sighed and got on his bicycle.

Things went smooth and calm during his ride to school. The weather was pretty enjoyable and not even a car was on the road. 10 minutes later he arrived at his school. Writing down on a little notepad the time it had taken him to get there, Eric left his bicycle on the rack that was at the entrance and went inside the empty 5-stories high building. The school's hallways were wide and didn't have any glass on the windows. They also produced an echo that irritated Eric most of the time. These hallways also connected the main building to the other facilities the school had. It had several science labs, a gym, a football field that was also used to play soccer, a big mess hall, and more. The whole place was in complete silence and nobody had arrived yet. This was pretty much what Eric liked about being early. He could take his stuff from his locker without having to worry about being on time to his first class. He even talked to himself to put his mind in order. His schedule was pretty crappy that day. The first four hours included 2 hours of chemistry, and just one hour of History and French. 'This sucks,' he thought at the same time he put a book in his bag. When he finished taking his supplies, he decided to take a walk through the hallways before the class began. "Well, I'd better go to class," he said with a hint of sadness in his voice. A few minutes later, both students and teachers began to arrive, making noise with their chattering and their cars. The school's buses also polluted the air with disgusting sounds. When Eric noticed them, he began walking cautiously so that he would be able to avoid other students.

The sun was already coming up as the systems that controlled the school's lamps shut down on their own. However, this left some areas in complete darkness. This didn't seem to startle Eric, who was in a poorly illuminated hallway in that exact moment. He couldn't see anything except for the sun's faint reflection on the tiled floor. Actually, that reflection was what he really needed to see to make his way towards the classroom. But suddenly, a tapping sound he wasn't very familiar with surprised him. It resembled the noise someone wearing heels would make. This didn't make any sense to Eric because he knew that heels were forbidden for both girls and female teachers. 'Heels?' he asked himself mentally as he lifted an eyebrow. Then he got this odd feeling that told him to get to class before that person got to him. He just didn't feel safe and began jogging but the mysterious person following him did the same thing. Eric heard the heels getting closer and soon, his jogging turned into a frantic run towards the nearest illuminated hallway. 'What the hell is going on here?!,' the young man wondered. Eric ran as fast as he could but the heels were getting closer as he ran towards the light. But fortunately, he managed to leave the shadows behind after a few seconds. He immediately realized that his pursuer couldn't let him know who he or she was because Eric finally decided to turn around and saw the figure of a person with pointy ears, or part of it, leaping over the window frame of the dark hallway. Eric ran towards it and stuck his head outside to see who had been chasing him but he only got to see a black Ford Crown Victoria with no number plate speeding towards the exit of the school's parking lot. Eric just shook his head, believing it only had been another joke. Later, the boy got to his classroom and waited for the class to begin.

* * *

'Eight, nine, ten, eleven...' Eric frowned as he counted with his mind the number of times he was hit in the back of his head with a piece of eraser. The projectiles came from the back of the classroom. It was clear that Calvin Garrett was having lots of fun messing with him. Even though Math was the last class of the day, Eric just couldn't take Calvin's torture anymore. The poor bullied boy tried to focus on the class and read the information Professor Greens had written on the wide board at the front of the classroom. He had to keep his mind busy or else he'd pick up a fight. The worst part is that even though Eric did his best to keep his cool, he was cruelly beaten up every two weeks by Garrett and his friends whether he liked it or not and the usual outcome was always the same, Eric would wind up bleeding and bruised. On common days, Garrett would be less violent but still would try to make Eric's existence miserable by pulling classic but equally humiliating pranks such as staining his victim's homework with soda, locking him up in lockers and trash containers, or even by sticking Eric's head in the restroom's toilets. All of this filled Eric's head with hatred, and his only wish was to get revenge on Garrett. 5 more minutes passed before the bell rang, indicating the end of both the class and the day. Professor Greens said goodbye to his students and left. Meanwhile, Eric sighed in relief and began picking up his stuff to put it all in his bag but suddenly, WHAM! The boy was smacked in the back of head. He didn't make any kind of sound but he furiously rubbed the place on which he had been hit. Calvin walked right next to him, laughing and holding the complimentary Algebra book with his strong hand. Eric knew right away that Garrett had been the one who hit him. "I'll see you tomorrow, sissy!" Garrett shouted at Eric as he threw the book in the trash bin right before he walked out of the classroom. Now, this pissed Eric off a lot. The enraged boy stuffed everything in his bag, which he put on and pushed his desk to one side so that he could pick the book from the trash bin and do one of craziest things he's ever done. Eric stood right in the door frame and looked at the sea of students that were in the hallway, trying to identify Garrett. This didn't take long because Garret was just a few feet away from the classroom. Eric gritted his teeth and shouted.

"Hey, Garrett!"

"What do you want, Gay-llow?" answered Garrett, who turned around giving Eric a threatening stare.

"You forgot your book, asshole!" Eric snapped back, throwing the book at Calvin. The 800 pages book, which contained lots of Mathematical knowledge, flew through the air flapping its pages just as if they were wings and soon it collided with Garrett's face, knocking him down to the ground. Right after this, Eric calmed down and began regretting what he had just done because Garrett scrambled back to his feet with a bloody nose, fuming. Eric ran back into the classroom, slamming the door shut and locking it. He couldn't go back to the hallway or else Calvin would certainly beat him to death. He took a quick look at the room and noticed that one of the windows was open. He walked slowly towards it and looked below. Right under the window there was a container filled with old books and cardboard boxes. He immediately knew that he had to jump from the window to escape but the problem was the 2 stories high drop. He pondered on whether he should do it or not, however he finally decided to do it since Calvin had begun to bash the door. Feeling the adrenaline in his veins, Eric walked towards the window and stepped right on the edge of the frame. Then, for some reason, all he could really hear was his breathing. He closed his eyes, and said, "Well, here I go." With that he jumped, feeling the wind running through his brown hair as he fell until his body landed inside the container. Sure, his landing had hurt a bit because he didn't know how to land. Eric lay down and rested for a while, then he got up and jumped out of the container to finish his escape.

* * *

"And with that you get a sixteen," said Nick, sporting a happy smirk on his face. "Still want another card?"

Laura shrugged and replied. "Sure. Another one won't hurt." Nick picked another card and placed it facing down next to the other cards Laura already had. Then he picked another one and placed it over his own.

"I'm sure you're going to lose again," Nick grabbed the card he had just taken and got ready to flip it.

Laura bit her lip and flipped her own card. "It looks like you're right," she said, looking away in defeat. A nine had made her get past the twenty-one that would've made her win the game. "Seriously, how do you expect me to beat you in a game of Blackjack? You're the son of a casino owner. I'm sure that has something to do." Laura didn't seem to be happy with her disastrous decision.

Nick laughed a bit and replied to Laura's claim. "The secret to win this little game is simple. Luck and confidence are all you need," Nick took the 5 dollar bill Laura had just lost to him. "You would've won if you hadn't asked for another card," at this point Laura paid attention to every word the smiling boy in front of her was saying. He was about to finish hi explanation when someone cut him off.

"Because you certainly exceeded twenty-one as well," Eric had just arrived at the mess hall in which his friends had already been for at least twenty minutes playing. "So, when are you guys going to stop playing Blackjack?" he said jokingly.

"I will once I beat our little friend here," Laura replied, following Eric's joke.

"I'm afraid that will have to wait, Laura. I'm a bit tired," Nick put his deck in a ziplock bag and tossed it in his school bag. "So, what delayed you, Gal?" this was a nickname Eric was already used to. It didn't bother him at all.

Eric took a seat next to Laura. "That's one hell of a funny question. I'm getting better at Math, but unfortunately," he made a small pause. "I had a problem on the way here."

Nick and Laura looked at each other and realized what that little problem was.

"Let me guess, Eric. You ran into Garrett again?" Laura asked with a serious expression on her face.

"Nailed it."

"Dude," Nick pointed his index finger at Eric. "This can't keep happening, you've run into the idiot at least twenty times in this month, obviously I'm not including that beating you got in the parking lot last week. I think you still have that bruise on your cheek."

"That's not true, besides I can't believe I've got into so much trouble in the first three weeks of March. I managed to escape from this one, though." Eric retorted, clutching his hand into a fist.

"Escape?!" his friends asked in unison.

"Please tell me you're not the maniac everyone's talking about!" Nick begged.

"That was me. How did you hear about that anyway?" Eric asked moving part of the hair that was covering his forehead. He was surprised someone already knew from his stunt.

"News travel quite rapidly in this place," someone behind Eric said. The aforementioned person looked upwards and grinned. It was Alex Brixton, whom he had met a few days ago. Thanks to some miracle, Alex was one of the very few people who didn't mess with Eric. Actually, what they had in common was that they were both bothered by the same bully. Alex managed to fight back somehow, unlike Eric.

Eric looked at his friends and began introducing Alex to them. "Guys, this is Alex Brixton. We're in the same class," Alex shook Nick's and Laura's hand and, of course, the traditional 'nice to meet you' or the 'pleased to meet you' were exchanged between the teenagers. Alex sat down next to Nick and told the whole thing to his new friends. "...and then, Eric scored a hit right on the bastard's face with the book, creating a gash on his face."

"And that's when I retreated back into the classroom and escaped." Eric interrupted him because Alex was exaggerating some parts.

His friends' mouths were widely opened. "But how do you plan to survive now?" Nick asked. "Garrett's going to be following you from now on. He might even kill you if you're not careful."

"Honestly," Eric was sweating madly. "I don't really know."

Alex decided to cheer his friend up. "Hey, at least you managed to fight back. Who knows? Maybe he'll stop messing with you if you keep this up. Small actions can cause big changes."

"I've got an idea," Nick stood up and wiped the table with a handkerchief to get rid of some cookie crumbles. "I invite you to hang at my house. I have food, videogames, and a huge collection of rock music. We'll have a good time."

Everyone accepted Nick's invitation and walked to the entrance of Fairport High School. Nick unlocked the doors to his retro BMW E30. "Asked for a Corvette and my parents gave me this. Sweet, isn't it?" he sure was proud of his car. Before leaving, Eric took his bike from the rack so that his friend could help him put it in the trunk of the old European car. Then everyone got inside and Nick drove off. But unfortunately, they didn't notice that a black Ford Crown Victoria with no number plate following them out of the parking lot and on to the highway.

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**Well, that was it for this chapter. I'll see you in the next one. Remember the review button makes the author happy. xD**


	3. On The Run

**Hello there. I'm back with another chapter. Thanks to all those users who have left reviews. This chapter's a bit long. I hope it won't bore you, and again, I apologize for any crappy grammar and/or vocabulary. I'm trying to improve.**

**To Jonny2b: Good guess. I think this will become one of your favorite chapters. Oh, and thanks for pointing out that mistake. I made sure to correct it.**

** To Comrade: Thanks for all your positive feedback. I intend to make this one heck of an epic story. Stay tuned for more chapters. **

**Chapter 2: On The Run**

"So you asked for a classic American muscle car and your parents gave you a retro European coupé," Alex said as he munched some potato chips he had brought with him. "I like this car."

"So do I," Nick didn't turn around because he was busy paying attention to the road so he had to put a little of strength in his voice to reply. "It's had some problems, though. Something was wrong with the ignition yesterday and last week the engine didn't work very well. I'm considering taking it to my uncle's workshop. If your ride's broken, he'll be more than glad to fix it."

The group was now very far from the school and now, the urban scene of Downtown Fairport came into sight. Nick lived with his family in a penthouse right in the heart of the city where people were always in a rush, running from one side of the city to the other living their busy lives. Slowly, the rural architecture was replaced by malls, supermarkets, and different kinds of buildings as Nick's car got closer to the city. The majority of the buildings Nick drove past were either apartment buildings or corporative buildings. The amount of traffic on the road also changed as the scenery did. Now it was more difficult to drive fast, mainly because there were many buses and several cabs along with a wide variety of cars on Fairport's busy road network. Fortunately, Nick didn't get stuck in the traffic.

However, the Ford that had been following them since they left the school was a few feet behind them maintaining its distance. Inside of the car, the driver paid attention carefully to the BMW it was tailing. Then he looked at the cars that surrounded him. Not a single black car like his was on the street. He hesitated a bit but the driver pushed a button on his steering wheel and established a communication channel with an individual we'll meet later on.

"How's the mission going?" asked a young male voice from the other side of the line.

"There are slight complications. They might suspect something's wrong if I keep stalking them with this vehicle. Should I retreat?" what the driver didn't know was that Nick was already too busy looking at the vehicles in front of his. Plus, he didn't make a scandal when he saw the Ford behind him when he looked into his rear view mirror. He'd got used to the sensation of being tailed because of all the times he had driven home after school.

"Remember the system we had installed on the car a while ago? Well, it's time to use it."

The driver obeyed and pulled over to the sidewalk and pushed another button. In response to this, a holographic screen appeared on the dashboard. The blue screen had a message written on it in red letters that read 'Searching for similar vehicles'. An instant later, two images of two Crown Victorias with different paint jobs and looks were displayed on the screen. One was a police car and the other one was a cab. The driver touched the image of the cab and shortly after that his car switched its color from black to yellow as several black spots that had remained on the sides of the Ford began morphing into the markings a real cab would have. When the system got the desired paint job, one of those 'Taxi' signs popped from the roof of the car. The driver got on the move again in his new taxi copy and began tailing the BMW again, which hadn't moved much. Definitely, this was the best disguise to avoid producing suspicion on the driver's target. "Resuming mission, I'm close to them," the taxi switched lanes and inched closer to Nick's retro beauty.

* * *

"Um, Nick?" Eric got the same feeling he'd felt in the morning in the dark hallway. "I think that cab's following us."

Nick chuckled a bit. "You're just paranoid, bro. There's always someone behind your car when you're driving in this busy place."

Still that reply didn't help Eric relax at all. As a small precaution, Eric kept an eye on the Ford for the remainder of the way to Nick's house. Maybe he was paranoid after all.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Nick parked his car in the lot below the building he lived at, the vehicle stalking them parking next to the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. The four teens got out of the car once Nick turned it off and went inside the hall of the enormous apartment building. The place seemed very luxurious due to its decorations. A rectangular crimson-colored carpet covered part of the white marble floor. There were also some couches here and there that were meant to be used by the people who lived there whenever they felt like having a calm talk with someone else. One thing that caught the eyes of Nick's guests was the elegant chandelier that hung several feet above their heads. Then they got in an elevator that resembled the ones used in the early twentieth century. After climbing several stories, the elevator finally got to the fifteenth floor, namely, Nick's penthouse. After they got out, they were welcomed by a short hallway that lead to a dark brown wooden door. Nick pulled out his keys from his pocket and opened the door to let his guests in.

"Wow, you and your family sure have a very nice house Nick," said Alex with his eyes fully opened. He hadn't been to Nick's place before.

Literally, the penthouse was like a materialized dream. It had a very modern-looking decoration as opposed to the old style that ruled the hall downstairs. There were expensive cutting edge appliances all over the place and the brown carpet that covered the entire floor looked just right. Also, the windows covered most of the walls, providing a fantastic view of the city and if Nick was right, a great spot to watch the beautiful sunrise that gave Fairport some positive reputation. This seemed to be the ideal place to live in Fairport, although Eric liked a bit more his family's house back in the countryside.

"My parents aren't home," said Nick as he got comfortable on a black leather couch. "Dad's got too much work at the casino and mom's left for New York to take some decorations course. That stuff fascinates her."

"But you said your dad was the boss there when we met you," Eric objected, minding his own business admiring the enormous size of the windows for the hundredth time or so.

"I know Gal," Nick got up from the couch and walked inside the kitchen. "But most of the time bosses have way more work to do than their employees."

"Ah."

* * *

"The way I see it, they won't come out until later," the mysterious driver warned the person he was talking to through a mini-microphone on the dashboard.

"It doesn't matter, our superiors just want us to get the kid. Remember our mission depends on us and him, especially him," the young person said and cleared his throat. "By the way, are you hiding in a proper place?" the driver's contact sounded as if he was in a an absolute calmed state.

"I got that covered."

Then, the cab changed its appearance again; this time ending up as a patrol car of the Fairport Police Department, generating its own police lights and bull bars. The driver hid in an alley next to the building, ready for action.

* * *

"God! This homework was exhausting," Laura protested, letting her pencil fall off of the table she and her friends were working on.

Alex chuckled. "As if Physics was any difficult, Laura," he said getting up from his chair. Physics was his favorite subject.

"Look at the bright side of this," Eric intervened and finished a slice of pizza he had on a plate next to him. "At least we're finally done with this. If there's something that would affect our grades, I guess it'd be delayed work," he finished expressing his idea as he put his stuff away.

"Hmph! If Professor Swire didn't give us so much homework, I would be the happiest guy on Earth!" exclaimed Nick whose weak point was a nasty habit of his that always made him hand in school work after the due date. This always had a very strong impact on his grade. "Alright, now that we're done with the boring stuff; what should we do next?"

"Well," a meditating Eric began to talk. He was a video game fan. He didn't play for hours as gaming junkies, but he did enjoyed playing them. "Do you have any new games?"

When he heard his friend's question, Nick jumped out of his chair and headed to his room. Meanwhile, Eric, Laura, and Alex cleaned up the dining room and sat in the living room when they finished. A few minutes passed and Nick walked into the room carrying a rather large cardboard box. His friends gave him a questioning look. In response, Nick smiled slyly and put the box on the glass table in the center of the room.

"Prepare to see my latest purchases," Nick said with a weird-sounding voice, opening the box at the same time. Inside, there were about forty Gamecube games, that old console that had replaced the Nintendo 64 back in 2001, which was quite a popular object among collectors living in Fairport. Laura, Eric, and Alex were surprised by Nick's little treasure. Their amazement was immediately reflected on the expressions they had on their face. Personally, I wouldn't blame them.

"Unbelievable," Alex murmured.

"How the hell did you get all of these?" asked Laura, intrigued.

"Well," Nick sat on the floor to tell his friends his story although it wasn't a very long one. "I spent hours in front of the computer looking for them on every single store in America. It was overwhelming but in the end it was worth it."

"This must've cost a fortune," Eric exclaimed, his eyes still fixed on the box.

"I'll be honest, Gal. High prices are only found in collector's stores," Nick let a sigh come out of his mouth. "Plus, some things are cheaper when you look for them on the Internet. A bargain, eh?"

"You're absolutely right."

After a few minutes of silence, they began pulling games out of the box to get a good look at them. There were titles that at least they considered classics from their childhood. Eventually they had to sell them but now they had them in their hands once again. These classics included Mario Kart: Double Dash, the Metroid Prime series, Super Smash Bros.: Melee and many others, but something right at the bottom caught Eric's attention. His hand made its way to the box and picked it up. It was called Star Fox: Assault. According to the back of the box it was a third person shooter that included both on-foot and aircraft modes. Then he proceeded to look at the cover. It featured several starfighters flying out of an explosion. Below, there was a tank-like futuristic vehicle tearing a rock apart and right next to the explosion there was a fox with brown fur with a bit of white on his face and his head that was aiming a gun. 'Fox McCloud,' Eric thought. He had played one of Assault's predecessors, Star Fox 64, back when he was just a child but he had never heard about another Star Fox installment. Eric looked at the blue letters that spelled out the words _"Star Fox" _for a second time. 'I've got to play this.'

"Nick!"

Nick dropped a copy of Super Monkey Ball into the cardboard box and looked at his friend. Eric tossed the game to him. Nick caught it and looked at the cover. "Mind if we play that?"

"Sure."

"What a funny coincidence. I find out one more Star Fox game came out at a friend's house," Nick lifted an eyebrow when he heard Eric's words.

"Dude, where have you been in the last twelve years? Not just one, but three Star Fox games were released after the 64 game!"

This piqued Eric's interest in no time. So, while the game loaded on Nick's Wii, Eric was told what had happened in the series' story in those three games. He learned many new things about Star Fox such as how Fox saved planet Sauria and a mysterious blue-furred vixen called Krystal from their demise in Adventures, how team Star Fox saved the Lylat System from an invasion by the Aparoid race; alien organisms capable of infecting and controlling machines and living beings, in Assault, and the crisis team Star Fox went through while fighting the Anglars in Command. Eric thought the idea of having several endings for the game was good. All in all, it felt as if he had been catching up with his favorite TV show.

When the game finally began running, Nick chose the story mode on Easy difficulty and began playing. The group of friends spent the following three hours playing by turns. Every time someone completed a level or died, the controller was passed on to the next player. During their gaming session they traveled all around the Lylat System, admiring every level the game offered such as the blizzard-stricken Fichina, the exotic Sauria, the Sargasso Space hideout and many others but the last level, the Aparoid Homeworld, was the best looking one. The levels Eric enjoyed the most were the ones that put him behind the dashboard of Fox's Arwing starfighter.

Anyway, when they finished the game Alex and Laura left. Eric stayed and chatted for a while with Nick about their favorite games. When Eric decided to leave, Nick went with him to the parking lot below to retrieve Eric's bike from the trunk of Nick's car. Then they bid each other goodbye and Eric went outside to the street. The environment had changed a lot. There wasn't traffic anymore, just a few cars, and the sky casted a blue shadow over the city. He began to ride his bike to the nearest subway station. The subway's personnel hadn't minded him taking his bike on the train before, so there was no problem. Unfortunately, when he was halfway to the station, it began to rain. Eric didn't feel like losing grip on the wet and falling off his bike so he got off and rolled it. 'I wonder if it is also raining at the outskirts of the city,' he thought, passing right in front of an alley that was next to the building he had just left.

* * *

"The boy's out of the building! I repeat, the boy's out of the building!" the driver informed to his contact when he saw Eric walking right in front of his hiding spot.

"What did you just say?" asked his contact. His voice was now very stressed.

"The target's left the building!" the driver shouted before firing up the Ford's engine.

"Follow him. Be discrete. If you get the opportunity, corner him before he leaves the city. Got it?"

"10-4."

* * *

Eric only had three more blocks to go, the subway below the concrete made a lot of noise. The rain hadn't stopped falling yet and the blue sky was getting darker. But suddenly, out of nowhere, a pair of strong hands caught Eric and dragged him down to a dark alley. Inside, Eric took a fierce punch to the face, a fierce punch seeking for revenge. Eric spit out a bit of blood and let out a loud: "What the hell?!" The strength of the punch sent him down to the hard asphalt. Then he contemplated in horror and shock the figures of Benny Madsen, Daniel Finch, and Calvin Garrett coming out of the darkness. Garrett had an evil grin plastered on his face.

'Shit, it's a trap,' Garrett and his friends had him cornered in that alley.

"Greetings, Gallow."

* * *

The now empty streets made the driver's task easier since he now had Eric in plain sight but what the mysterious driver never expected was that his target was suddenly pulled into an alley in less than a second. The driver did a 180 degree turn and stopped to see what was going on in the alley. Eric had been knocked down to the ground but now he was getting back up.

* * *

"Come on, Calvin," Eric clutched his fists to at least try to defeat Calvin. He spat blood out again.

"Ha! Don't make me laugh, you little bug," said Garrett sarcastically a second before he stroke Eric for the second time using a kick directed to his chest, sending him back to the ground. Garrett kneeled over and whispered something is Eric's ear. "I bet now you regret throwing that book at me," then he picked up Eric and slammed him against the brick wall behind him. Eric leaned against it. Garrett took advantage off this and sent a hook right into Eric's stomach, expelling all the air out of his body. Then, he threw Eric further into the alley. The sky was now pitch black.

* * *

The driver saw it all. He called his contact again.

"Are you sure this is our guy?"

"Why do you ask?"

"He's taking a beating."

"That doesn't matter. Bring him in."

The driver shook his head in confusion and started the engine.

* * *

"HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW, HUH?" Garrett was fuming and was about to swing Eric's bike into its owner's face. Suddenly, a patrol car from the FPD drove into the alley with its red, blue, and white lights flicking on and off and its siren blaring into the night. It was heading right towards the fight! "Damn it, it's the cops!" Garrett muttered. "Let's get out of here! I'm gonna make your life a living hell, Gallow," and with that Garrett threw Eric's bike into a trash container and fled with his gang. Eric suffered to stay on his feet and rested against the wall to recover from the beating, now he had bruises on his face and both his nose and mouth were bleeding but also, there was a small gash on his eyebrow.

He stood in the middle of the alley calling for help, but something strange happened. The patrol car didn't lower its speed, it looked like it was increasing it! Eric got paranoid again and began running through the alley. His hair was now wet and splashed water every time it shook due to Eric's running. The terrified boy made a turn to the right and got into another alley that connected with many others. Eric looked back and noticed the patrol car getting smaller in the distance. He began to make turns on every alley he came across until he reached one that connected with a main avenue but he wasn't safe yet because the patrol car was several feet behind him. Eric looked at his surroundings and spotted a scaffolding lined up against a restaurant. It had many buckets on it. Eric began to look at each bucket's content in an attempt to get anything that could help him out. Then he came across one filled with sharp nails. He took it and spilled its content all over the alley's width. The patrol car was closing in on him but its driver slammed on the brakes as soon as he saw the nails. He didn't run the nails over but the car got close to doing so. Eric's intention was to blow its tires but his trap had worked just fine. The driver revved the engine a couple of times before reversing and leaving through another alley. Eric almost was close to passing out but the need to get somewhere safe kept him awake.

The boy got on the avenue and tried to call a taxi but he didn't find his cellphone. Then he realized he had lost his bag in the alley. Much to his dismay, he heard a siren in the distance. The same patrol car was now heading towards him from the right at who-knows-what-speed, like a train that's out of control, and to make things worse, it was on the wrong side of the road. Eric knew it would kill him if it hit him so he traced out another plan. Fast as lightning, he went back to the alley and used the restaurant's fire escape staircase next to the scaffolding to get to the roof. When he got there, he hid behind a huge TV antenna. This didn't stop the driver nor his partner. Yes, his partner. Eric could barely hear the voices of his pursuers because of the rain. They point is that they had got out of their vehicle and climbing up the staircase.

"He's up there!" it was the voice of a female with an accent Eric couldn't pinpoint.

"This guy's an escapist! We need help," said a man.

Now Eric felt extremely frightened. He began to plan his next movement but then, a giant green circle of light appeared in the air like 40 feet away from the building. Eric stopped thinking and fixed his eyes on the phantasmagoric glowing circle. "This can't be happening! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" this got even more unreal when a helicopter painted in black came out of the circle and began flying in circles around the building. Eric stopped screaming and stood in the middle of the roof. He stared at the helicopter and the portal thing from which it had come as if he was in a trance. Whoever was flying the helicopter turned on a spotlight and pointed its soft-blueish light towards Eric. The rain hit the boy in the face violently while his clothes were horribly wet. This was all nonsense.

Eric broke out of his trance when he saw a gun aiming at him from an opening in the helicopter. Terrorized, Eric ran back to the antenna but it was already too late. A shot was heard in the middle of the urban noises and the rain. Eric felt a sting in his neck. He began touching his neck with clumsy movements until his left hand found it. He slowly removed the thin dart and looked at it but then he dropped it. His vision began to get foggy, things were blurry all around him, his limbs didn't respond to any orders coming from his brain. Eric looked at the helicopter spraying water in all directions one last time before he fell down to the roof's surface with his consciousness gone.

"Well done."

* * *

**Dang, almost broke the 4k word mark here. The total word count for this chapter is 3,913 words. Eh, oh well; I'll try to beat that in other chapters. Remember to leave a review, guys. See ya! Thanks for all your feedback.**


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